What We’re Reading

New York Times reporters and editors are highlighting great stories from around the web. You can receive What We’re reading by email, and let us know how you like it at wwr@nytimes.com.

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Driven

From The New Yorker: Jia Tolentino has identified a ghastly gig economy marketing trend — the celebration of working yourself to death. The ride-sharing company Lyft shares the “exciting” story of a driver, nine months pregnant, who picked up passengers through her contractions; the freelance marketplace Fiverr posts subway ads praising “doers” who get high off “sleep deprivation” and “eat a coffee for lunch.” Exploiting workers has never looked so inspiring or so glamorous. — Amanda Hess, David Carr fellow

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Migrant Workers

From The Wall Street Journal: A fascinating essay from a former W.S.J. colleague who gave up his job and possessions to live a nomadic life with his wife, working and traveling around the world. It’s not the long, extended vacation fun you might expect. — Tara Parker-Pope, editor, Well

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CreditGeorge Etheredge for The New York Times

Game Changer

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek: The college basketball season is winding down, and Major League Baseball is winding up. ESPN, the broadcast giant that airs many of those games, has lost more than 12 million subscribers since 2011. But the network’s deals with subscription streaming services and adding a “Netflix-like interface” to its app could lead it to break out of its slump. — Adeel Hassan, reporter, Race/Related

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CreditIan Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The New York Times

Signs and Symptoms

From Design Observer: Michael Bierut recounts the tumultuous experience of designing the logo for Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign — which was widely ridiculed initially, though later embraced by her supporters. His essay is nominally about the craft of graphic design but it pokes at the much larger forces that shaped the identities of both candidates and, ultimately, Donald Trump’s victory. — Tyson Evans, senior editor, Opinion

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CreditTing-Li Wang/The New York Times

Weekend Reads

From Our Picks: Sick of political news? We found fascinating articles about hula girls, the world’s worst director and subway accessibility.

And if you’re not sick of political news, check out the latest installment of great partisan writing from the right, left and center. This week, we’re reading about a crisis in “Trumpism,” Breitbart for the left, and why the governor’s race in Virginia is one to watch. — Anna Dubenko, senior digital strategist